" Marlborough, spotting this error, now countermanded Cutts ’ intention to launch a third attack, and ordered him simply to contain the enemy within Blenheim ; no more than 5, 000 Allied soldiers were able to pen in twice the number of French infantry and dragoons.

The reluctance of his Dutch allies to see their frontiers denuded of troops for another gamble in Germany had denied Marlborough the initiative, but of far greater importance was the Margrave of Baden ’ s pronouncement that he could not join the Duke in strength for the coming offensive.

The resilience of the French King, and the efforts of his generals, also added to Marlborough ’ s problems.

" With Marlborough ’ s departure north, the French now transferred troops from the Moselle valley to reinforce Villeroi in Flanders, while Villars marched off to the Rhine.

The year 1705 proved almost entirely barren for the Duke whose military disappointments were only partly compensated by efforts on the diplomatic front where, at the courts of Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Vienna, Berlin and Hanover, Marlborough sought to bolster support for the Grand Alliance and extract promises of prompt assistance for the following year ’ s campaign.

With these reverses, the Dutch now refused to contemplate Marlborough ’ s ambitious march to Italy or, indeed, any plan that denuded their borders of the Duke and their army.

Villeroi still believed ( on 22 May ) the Allies were a full day ’ s march away when in fact they had camped near Corswaren waiting for the Danish squadrons to catch up ; for his part, Marlborough deemed Villeroi still at Jodoigne when in reality he was now approaching the plateau of Mont St. André with the intention of pitching camp near Ramillies ( see map at right ).

The following day, at 01: 00, Marlborough dispatched Cadogan, his Quartermaster-General, with an advanced guard to reconnoitre the same dry ground that Villeroi ’ s army was now heading, country that was well known to the Duke from previous campaigns.

With a short lift in the mist, Cadogan soon discovered the smartly ordered lines of Villeroi ’ s advance guard some four miles ( 6 km ) off ; a galloper hastened back to warn Marlborough.

Moreover, this disposition – concave in relation to the Allied army – gave Marlborough the opportunity to form a more compact line, drawn up in a shorter front between the ‘ horns ’ of the French crescent ; when the Allied blow came it would be more concentrated and carry more weight.

Although Henry Lumley ’ s British cavalry had managed to cross the marshy ground around the Petite Gheete, it was soon evident to Marlborough that sufficient cavalry support would not be practicable and that the battle could not be won on the Allied right.

It is still not clear how far Orkney ’ s advance was planned only as a feint ; according to historian David Chandler it is probably more accurate to surmise that Marlborough launched Orkney in a serious probe with a view to sounding out the possibilities of the sector.

Marlborough ’ s younger brother, General of Infantry, Charles Churchill, ordered four brigades of foot to attack the village.

Seeing that Schultz and Spaar were faltering, Marlborough now ordered Orkney ’ s second-line British and Danish battalions ( who had not been used in the assault on Offus and Autre-Eglise ) to move south towards Ramillies.

Therefore, unbeknown to the French who remained oblivious to the Allies ’ real strength and intentions on the opposite side of the Petite Gheete, Marlborough was throwing his full weight against Ramillies and the open plain to the south.

" Fortunately Marlborough ’ s newly appointed aide-de-camp, Richard Molesworth, galloped to the rescue, mounted the Duke on his horse and made good their escape, before Murray ’ s disciplined ranks threw back the pursuing French troopers.

After a brief pause, Marlborough ’ s equerry, Colonel Bringfield ( or Bingfield ), led up another of the Duke ’ s spare horses ; but while assisting him onto his mount, the unfortunate Bringfield was hit by an errant cannonball that sheared off his head.

One account has it that the cannonball flew between the Captain-General ’ s legs before hitting the unfortunate colonel, whose torso fell at Marlborough ’ s feet – a moment subsequently depicted in a lurid set of contemporary playing cards.

The final Allied reinforcements for the cavalry contest to the south were at last in position ; Marlborough ’ s superiority on the left could no longer be denied, and his fast-moving plan took hold of the battlefield.

" Malines, Lierre, Ghent, Alost, Damme, Oudenaarde, Bruges, and on 6 June Antwerp, all subsequently fell to Marlborough ’ s victorious army and, like Brussels, proclaimed the Austrian candidate for the Spanish throne, the Archduke Charles, as their sovereign.

To sway the Duke ’ s opinion, the Emperor offered Marlborough the governorship of the Spanish Netherlands.

David G. Chandler ’ s Marlborough as Military Commander and A Guide to the Battlefields of Europe are consistent with regards to French casualty figures i. e., 12, 000 dead and wounded plus some 7, 000 taken prisoner.

While La jolie fille was in rehearsal, Bizet worked with three other composers, each of whom contributed a single act to a four-act operetta Marlborough s ' en va-t-en guerre.

With the battle still not won, Marlborough had to rebuke one of his cavalry officers who was attempting to leave the field – " Sir, you are under a mistake, the enemy lies that way ..." Now, at the Duke's command, the second Allied line under von Bulow and the Count of Ost-Friese was ordered forward, and, driving through the centre, the Allies finally put Tallard's tired horse to rout, not without cost.

On their left, on the broad plain between Taviers and Ramillies – and where Marlborough thought the decisive encounter must take place – Overkirk drew the 69 squadrons of the Dutch and Danish horse, supported by 19 battalions of Dutch infantry and two artillery pieces.

The last horse car line was along Marlborough Street in the Back Bay, and was never electrified.

* Marlborough white horse,

Realising the danger, the Duke of Marlborough resolved to alleviate the peril to Vienna by marching his forces south from Bedburg and help maintain Emperor Leopold within the Grand Alliance.

Both the Imperial Austrian Ambassador in London, Count Wratislaw, and the Duke of Marlborough realised the implications of the situation on the Danube.

The John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough | Duke of Marlborough's march from Bedburg ( near Cologne ) to the Danube.

The Duke had assured the Dutch that if the French were to launch an offensive he would return in good time, but Marlborough calculated that as he marched south, the French commander would be drawn after him.

In this assumption Marlborough proved correct: Villeroi shadowed the Duke with 30, 000 men in 60 squadrons and 42 battalions.

Portrait of the Duke of Marlborough by Adriaen van der Werff ( December 1704 ) Uffizi

Some Allied officers who were acquainted with the superior numbers of the enemy, and aware of their strong defensive position, ventured to remonstrate with Marlborough about the hazards of attacking ; but the Duke was resolute – " I know the danger, yet a battle is absolutely necessary, and I rely on the bravery and discipline of the troops, which will make amends for our disadvantages ".

In February 1705, Queen Anne, who had made Marlborough a Duke in 1702, granted him the Park of Woodstock and promised a sum of £ 240, 000 to build a suitable house as a gift from a grateful crown in recognition of his victory – a victory which British historian Sir Edward Shepherd Creasy considered one of the pivotal battles in history, writing – " Had it not been for Blenheim, all Europe might at this day suffer under the effect of French conquests resembling those of Alexander in extent and those of the Romans in durability.

Memoirs of the Duke of Marlborough: vol. i. London, ( 1847 )

Also determined to fight a major engagement, the Duke of Marlborough, commander-in-chief of Anglo-Dutch forces, assembled his army – some 62, 000 men – near Maastricht, and marched past Zoutleeuw.

The Duke of Marlborough had intended the 1705 campaign – an invasion of France through the Moselle valley – to complete the work of Blenheim and persuade King Louis XIV to make peace, but the plan had been thwarted by both friend and foe alike.

Marlborough wrote an appeal to the Duke of Württemberg, the commander of the Danish contingent – " I send you this express to request your Highness to bring forward by a double march your cavalry so as to join us at the earliest moment …" Additionally, the King in Prussia, Frederick I, had kept his troops in quarters behind the Rhine while his personal disputes with Vienna and the States-General at The Hague remained unresolved.

John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough ( 1650 – 1722 ) by Sir Godfrey Kneller.

The Duke of Marlborough receives captured standards at Ramillies.

Marlborough realised the great opportunity created by the early victory of Ramillies: " We now have the whole summer before us ," wrote the Duke from Brussels to Robert Harley, " and with the blessing of God I shall make the best use of it.

By the time Marlborough had closed down the Ramillies campaign he had denied the French most of the Spanish Netherlands west of the Meuse and north of the Sambre – it was an unsurpassed operational triumph for the English Duke.